"Heaven Gained A New Cowboy," Says Stillwater Family Of Child Lost

A Stillwater family is mourning the loss of 11-year-old Anna Marie Davis. She died Monday after what her family is calling a “freak-accident."

“I kept on saying, 'Not my baby,'” Bethany Diaz, Anna’s mother, says.

Diaz says her children were playing outside, riding skateboards when Anna rolled into the street and hit a car passing by.

“Anna was down on her knees on the skateboard,” Diaz says, pointing "and the car was coming from that direction. With that obstruction there at the mailbox, the bush there. They didn't see her and she didn't see them."

The fifth grader was airlifted to Oklahoma City and died the next morning from her injuries.

Anna's siblings say they saw the accident unfold. Her 12-year old brother Jace even tried to save her.

“We were all yelling 'Stop!'” Jace Davis says. "I went to reach out and grab her but I couldn't because she was too far ahead."

“I can't be mad at the other people that are involved,” Diaz says. "If anything, I feel so unbelievably heartbroken for them. I can't imagine what they are going through right now."

This Friday, Anna's family and many friends will gather to celebrate her life. They say the 11-year-old loved fishing, painting her nails, and wanted to be a teacher someday. The whole family also cheered on the Pokes together.

"She has touched so many people in such a short time,” Dias says. “I could say a book about her, honestly. She was perfect.”

The Diaz family says they've been overwhelmed with love by their community, and they know Anna would have been, too.

This is the second child Bethany has had to bury. She says she lost her first daughter to SIDS at 24 days old.

“When you've experienced the loss of one child,” Diaz says, "it's really hard. To experience the loss of another child in a lifetime, it seems to be unbearable."

She swears she can still hear the echo of Anna's laughter throughout the house.

Come Friday, they've asked her classmates and loved ones to release 100 balloons at the end of her service.

“She was larger than life,” Diaz says. "She was a pistol. That's what someone said today. Heaven gained a new cowboy. Pistols firing."

The family is raising money to make a donation in Anna's memory to her school, as well money to help pay for her funeral. You can find more information including Anna’s funeral arraignments through this link, or donate to her GoFundMe.